Casting machine



Feb. 5, 1924. 1,483,021 A. G. STEVENSON CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29.1921 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb; 5, 1924.- v 1,483,021

A. G. STEVENSON CASTING MACHINE Filed :Jam. 29 1921 5-Sh9ets-Sheet 2 i11 j I 7 Feb. 5, 1921 1,483,021

A. e. STEVENSON v CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan; 29 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet sFeb. 5, 1924.- 1,483,021

A. e. STEVENSON CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29 I 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 oI III m Feb. 5, 1924. 1,483,02'1

' A. G. STEVENSON CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Patented Feb. 5, 11924.

ilhli'lf tiTATE ASHTON a. srnvnnson, or CHICAGO, ILLInors.

CASTING MACHINE.

Application filed January 29, 1923.. Serial No. 441,077.

To all whom it may con-cm:

'Be it known that I. AsHToN G. STEVEN- sc-N, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in casting machines, and hasespecial reference to machines which are commonly known as linotype orline casting machines.

in a machine of this kind, commonly constructed, there is a mold wheelwhich can ries several molds in which the slugs are cast and which isadapted to be rotated to position the several. molds in various positionfor the several operations of casting, ejecting, etc. Associated withthe mold wheel are means for supporting the usual matrices for castingprinting slugs or what is known as a quad block slide holder for castingborders or line printing slugs, etc., or blanks.

The machines as constructed are adapted to cast slugs of full printingheight, viz: .918 inch in height from the printing surface to the baseof the slug. All but a very small part of this total height, viz: .043of an inch, of it is cast within the mold and the balance of .043 of aninch is cast in the matrix. For casting a slug the matrices are clampedtightly upon or against the face of the mold, closing the forward sidethereof and consequently the common surface of the several matrices thusheld, where they are not provided with letter depressions form what isknown as the quad or non-printing surface from which the type properrise. As this general blank surface is only .04-3 of an inch below theprinting surface the inking rollers sometimes deposit ink on thesesurfaces. especially when the slugs are used on the printing press andthen the paper is apt to be depressed this slight distance and be inkedor smudged.

To prevent this result, slug which have much of this surface exposed,such for instance, as the slugs used at the heading of pages, have to becut down by some means, usually upon a routing machine. This i adelaying and expensive operation, besides being an extra or addedoperation upon the slugs, not to mention the annoyance of the chips fromthe routing tool.

So far as I am aware, no practical means have heretofore been providedby which a printing slug can be cast upon a standard linotype machine bythe use of whats-are termed standard type producing matrices and whichslug shall have its non-printing or quad surfaces at a greater distancethan .043 of aninch below the printing surface of the slug. i

There are many thousands of what are termed standard linotyping machinesin use and in each instance great quantitiesof fonts of standardlinotype matrices are provided, but there has heretofore been no meanprovided by which these untold quantities of standard matrices could beused for produc ing the style of slugs above described, viz: havingrelatively low non-printing surfaces.

The only suggestion which has been made has been to provide molds lowerthan standard and provide matrices with deep notches in which the upperpart of the slug shall be cast, the letter depressions being formed inthe bottoms of these deep notches. There are two very serious objectionsto' this plan which have prevented the general adoption or use thereof,viz: the impossibility of using the great quantity of standardmatrices'in stock and further it is now common practice to make standardtwo-letter matrices, that is, each matrix is provided with two letterdepressions, one above the other, and means are provided for presentingone or the other of these letter depressions to the mold, but in thestandard construction these two-letter depressions are arranged so closetogether than when thematrix is provided with two of the deep notchesfor use with the low mold, the tongue of metal remaining be tween thesenotches is too fragile for use and soon gives way and the matrix isuseless.

I accomplish this result of producing printing slugswith extra low quador nonprinting surfaces in a very simple manner. I make a mold which issubstantially an eighth of an inch lower or thinner than the standardmold and I use the standard matrices held in the usual vise arrangementcommonly used in standard linotype machines. As thus arranged therewould be a space of substantially an eighth of an inch,

between the edges bf the matrices and the front face of the mold. Tofill in this space and provide means for casting this part of the slug,I provide what i term a ma k which has a slot which is a forwardcontinuation of the mold cavity and which in effect carries the moldcavity to the matrices. I then provide special quad matrices havingprojections on their forward or mold Closing faces adapted to enter andsubstantially fill the slot in the mask at the part where it is desiredto produce the low nonprinting or quad surfaces. I am thus enabled toproduce slugs of the character described by the use of the standardmatrices, the only special matrices required being a comparatively fewspecial blank matrices and the only change in the linotype machine beingthe change from the standard mold to a special mold substantially oneeighth of an inch thinner than the standard.

Besides this fundamental advantageous feature of my invention there aremany others which are of great utility, among which may be mentioned thefollowing: In the printing art, different kinds of printing plates aremade use of which owing to their method of manufacture have differentthicknesses. For instance, stereotype plates are .159 of an inch inthickness; zinc plates are .065 of an inch thick. Having provided a moldwhich is substantially one eighth of an inch thinner than the standardmold, I am enabled to produce foundations for these various thicknessesof plates by providing matrix slides which are recessed more or lessdeeply on their mold faces, and furthermore I can, by providing a maskfor a. matrix slide similar to the mask which I use with the lettermatrices, viz, one with a slot, for continuing the mold cavity for ward,and associating this mask with a standard matrix slide for a border orthe like, or printing; slugs of other kinds of full height or printingheight. Another feature of my invention relates to the production ofwhat is known as printers furniture, which consists of low non-printingmem bers of slug form and of various thicknesses and the making of thethicker fnrniture hollow, having side walls. on both sides extendingdown to the lower edge, and cored between these walls. This enables meto assemble such furniture with printing type and other slug members, asI provide con-- tinuous side walls or side contacting surfaces on allmembers. In the production of such furniture I make use of the thinmold, mounting within it a novel core member, and I provide a matrixslide thick enough so that when mounted on the matrix slide holder inits standard position the slide fills in the space provided by cuttingback the mold, and the slug cast of a height suitable for furniture.

.Many other novel details of construe tion and operation enter into thepractical. and successful practice of my inveiuiou in the production ofthe several forms of printer s slug material described, and all of whichas well as many additional advantages will be understood from thefollowing description, taken in connection with said accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure l is a face view of a linotypc mold wheel showing four molds inplace thereon;

Figure 2 is a face view 01' one of the molds showing a series ofmatrices in position in front'of the same;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33 of Figure 2;

l igures l and 5 are vertical sections on the lines 4& and 55respectively of Fig ure 2;

Figure 6 is a vertical section of the mold on the line 6-6 of Figure land showing associated parts of the machine.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of my special low quad producingmatric Figure 8 is a perspective view of a thin cnt oli matrix which Iuse to produce short slugs;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a standard two-letter matrix;

Figure 10 is a perspective view ot the form of slug which is one of theobjects and the result of my invention;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the two slot mask suitable for usewith standard two-letter matrices.

Figure 12 is a front elevation of a slide block carrying a border slideand a mask for use with same, the mask being partly broken away;

Figure 13 is a perspective view of a cored border slug such as isproduced by the use of my invention;

Figure 14: is a perspective view of a single slot mask for use withborders and adapted to be mounted on a slide block in conjunction with aborder slide:

Figure 15 is a. section similar to Figures land and showing a moldequipped with a core for misting a cored border slug:

Figures 16 to 18, inclusive, are sectional views similar to Figure 15and showing various forms or slides for producing foundations tor cuts.etc; and

Figure 19 i a diagrammatic view illustrating the related height of theseveral slugs produced.

In the co-called linotype machine a mold wheel 1 is provided. usuallycarrying four molds 2 on its face, said molds being equallycircum'terentially spaced thereon. Each mold consists of a base 3rigidly secured. to the web of the wheel usually by screws 4; and aremovable cap 5 held in position by screws 6 projecting through theouter part of rim of the mold wheel. The cap is adjustable from an wardthe base for providing a mold slot between the base and cap of differentheights or thicknesses for producing slugs of different thicknesses. Thecap is spaced from the base by liners 8 and 9 at the ends of the slot 7.The liner 9 may be of different lengths to make the molds of variouslengths depending upon the length of slug desired. Usually the liner 8which is at the right hand end of the mold is not changed in length.

ldatrices of the general form as that shown at 10, Figure 9, areassembled side by side and in the operation of casting are held, asshown in Figures 2 and 3 with their die cut edges 11 to the face of themold, be ing held by th machine tightly against the mold and the moltenmetal is forced into the mold from the rear, filling the mold andentering the depressions in the matrices and reproducing the depressionsin the matrices on what becomes the printing face of the slugs.

As ordinarily arranged, the faces 11 of standard matrices would bepositioned against the front face of the mold, that is against both thecap and the base thus closing the mold slot. I purposely make the mold 2of less depth from front to back than the standard mold and consequentlywhen standard matrices are arranged in a standard linotype machine andheld in casting position there is a space between the die faces ll ofthe matrices and the adjacent front face of the mold by the amount whichI have removed from the face of the mold. preferably about one eighth ofan inch. As in the linotype machine the mold wheel is pressed forwardinto contact with the matrices and other mold closing devices, withgreat pressure, this one eighth of an inch would disappear and theresulting slug would not be standard height. I prevent this result andmake use of this space. which I have produced by arranging between thematrices l and the mold a mask or mold forming member 13 having eitherone or two longitudinal slots 14 positioned therein in accordance withthe vertical spacing of the die depressions in the standard two-lettermatrices. When the matrices, mask and mold are assembled as shown inFigures 4 and 5, one of these slots lx-l provides a forward continuationof the mold slot 7, and the resultant slug 15 is cast of full printingheight at the point where the standard matrices are arranged, as shownat 16 in Figure 10.

For producing the low quad surfaces 17 on theslug where the printingcharacters do not appear, I provide special blank mat- .rices 18 havingprojections 19 on their edges presented to the mold and which areBflflpllGCl to project into the slot 14 nearly through same and thusproduce a low top surface on the slug. These projections are not quiteas long a the mask is deep, as

I desire to connect the several longitudinal ba which form the mask andwhich define the slots ll at one end of the mask. I connect these barsby the thin transverse ion necting parts 20, Figure 11, and the pro-'jections 19 are just short enough to pass these connecting parts whenthey are moved into place along the mask from said end. As best shown inFigure 4: the projections 19, which as above explained are not the fulldepth or thickness of the mask, do not reach to the face of the mold orthe face of the liner which fills the mold at the end, and consequentlythere is a space left through which the molten metal might es cape whena slug is cast. To stop off this opening I provide a thin blank matrix21 having a similar projection 22 which is as long from the edge of thebody of the matrix as the depth or thickness of the mask, and I use oneof these thinner matrices at the end of a line of matrices as shown inFigures 2 and 3 just within the left hand vise block 23.

As usually made, standard matrices have forwardly extending projectionsor toes 25 at their lower ends which enter a horizontal guide slot inthe face of the lower part of the mold for causing the letter dies toregister with the mold slots. These projections 25 are less than oneeighth of an inch in length and consequently when I remove an eighth ofan inch from the face of the mold then these projections do not reachthe mold. Usually there are two of these guide slots in the face of themold parallel with each other and spaced vertically the same as thespacing of the letter depressions on two-letter matrices. I reproducethese two guide slots as shown at 26, Figure 4, and I make my blankmatrices 18 with extended or long projecting toes 27 at their lowerends, so that they will project beneath the mask 13 and enter the slots26. The lower bar 28 of the mask is wide enough so that when the toes 27rest in the slot 26 and the mask 13 rests on the toes 27 one of theslots 14 in the mask is registered as to height with the mold slot; thatis the lower edge of the slot registering with the bottom of the moldslot.

The mold at the right hand side of Figure 1 is in the ejecting position.In this position, as shown in Figure 6, an, ejector blade 29 is pushedinto the mold from the rear to force the cast slug forward out of themold. It takes considerable pressure to push out the slug and to preventdamage to the mold wheel and its related parts. The machine is providedwith means for receiving this thrust. comprising a strong vertical frame30 mounted at its lower end upon a cross bar 31 forming part of themachine and braced or held at its upper end by a cross bar 32 clamped tothe frame of the machine by screws This frame 80 carries stops 3%arranged to contact with the face of the mold at the ends of the moldslots when in ejecting position. As I have cut away the face of the moldone eighth of an inch below the standard position, these stops do notreach the mold and to make up this difference I provide plates orprojecting parts on the liners 8 and 9, which parts are substantiallyone-sixth of an inch thick and build up these two portions of the moldto the original position. These two plates are in the proper position tocontact with the stops 34: and take "the pressure off of the mold wheeldue to the action of the ejector olade The inner edge of the lower part3 of the standard mold operates upon a suitable stop mechanism toregulate the amount of the rotation of the mold wheel and to cause it tostop at certain predetermined points. In reducing the thickness of themold for permitting the use of the mask this co-operation of the moldedge with the stop mechanism is eliminated and in order to reproducethis action I provide a forwardly extending projection which is securedto the under edge of the mold part 3 by the screw 37. This part projectsforward from the reduced face of the mold the amount the mold has beenreduced and re produces the orignal lower edge for a short distance sothat it properly co-operates with the standard stop mechanism.

Besides the production of the form of slug shown in Figure 10, myinvention is also useful in producing slugs of several other forms;namely, full height printing slugs 38, Figure 13, for printing borders,etc, and slugs of less than type height for use in making foundationsfor different thicknesses of plates and in different processes ofreproduction of pictures, etc.

In Figure 15, I have shown a sectional view of what is known as a quadblock 39, which is an elongated block having the cross sectional shapeof a standard matrix and which is adapted to be placed in a standardmachine in the place of a line of assembled matrices, and is used forcastingborders and such like printing elements. The block is providedwith a dovetailed groove on its face. which is presented to the linotypemold and in which a member l1 is positioned and held. This member 41 hason its face which is presented to the mold, a die 42 for casting aborder or some similar design, the face which carries the border, thatis in the standard devices f this character, is positioned in the sameplane as the type dies in the standard matrices. By placing a mask 44over the border slide similar to the mask 13, I can cast the border andsimilar printing elements by the use of my low or thin mold, as bestshown in Figure 15. In said figure the casting of the border 88 isshown. The mask or frame er is provided with dovetail ribs 45 on itsback which fits into a second pair of dove-tail grooves 46 which Iprovide in the body of the quad block 39 and in such relation to thegrooves 40 that when the block is held in clamped position against theface of the mold the adjacent faces of the mask and border slots make atight joint between the two to prevent the escape of metal during theoperation of forcing the metal into the mold to make a casting.

In Figures 13 and 15 I have illustrated the cast border 38 as beingquite thick and provided with. a hollow space 47, whereby the border islighter in weight than if made solid. This space or hollow 4-7 isproduced by means of a core 8 which I mount in the mold space. This corehas forwardly tapered parts49 which core the body of the border andwhich are relatively easy from which to withdraw the border when cast.

In Figures 16 and 18 inclusive, I have illustrated still anotheradvantageous fea ture of my invention.

In these figures, instead of providing a border slide or the likemounted on a quad block, I have provided in each instance a single slidemounted by means of dove-tails on. the quad block and in each instancethe body of the slide is thick enough so that when in casting positionthe rear face of the slide contacts with the adjacent face of the moldand makes the joint at this point.

In Figure 16 have shown a quad block 50 provided with a dove-tailedgroove 51 in which is mounted a slide 52 provided with a relatively deeprecess 53. The rear face 5% of the slide contacts with the adjacent faceof the mold and the recess is less than one eighth of an inch deep,conse quently the bottom 55 of the recess produces a top surface on thearticle 56 which is cast, which is lower than full printing height. InFigure 17. which illustrates a similar slide, the recess 5'? is moreshallow consequently the article 56 produced will not be as high as thearticle shown in Figure 16.

Figure 18 illustrates the fact that I can use my device for producinglow quads as I provide a slide 58 which has no recess and consequentlythe whole of the article 59 is cast within the shallow mold andconsequently is one eighth of an inch lower than the full printingheight.

It is thus made plain that I can produce type furniture for mountingcuts or borders by use of the molds which are thinner than standardmolds and by the use of the various filling slides. etc. which I havepro vided.

Figure 19 illustrates the relative height of printing slugs cutfoundations and low quads which are produced by the use of my devices,38 being a printing slug or border 56 a foundation for zine plate cuts56 a foundation for stereotype plates, and 59 a low quad.

As it is obvious that many modifications of my invention will readily besuggested, I do not limit or confine my invention to the specificstructures herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, a slug mold lower than thestandard mold, closure means for forming the upper face of the slug,positioned in front of the mold, and spaced therefrom equal to thereduction in the height of the mold, a mask positioned between the faceof the mold and said closing means for carrying the mold slot forwardfrom the face of the mold to said closing means and causing theproduction of a full height slug the mold having a guide groove in itsface, other slot closing means associated with said closing means andformed for engagement with the mask and for entering said guide grooveto cause the proper registration of the three parts of the slug formingcavity.

2. In a machine of the kind described, a slug mold which is lower thanthe standard mold, an assembled line of standard matrices shorter thanfull mold length arranged in front of the mold in casting position andat a distance from the face of the mold equal to the reduction in theheight of the mold below standard, a mask arranged between the matricesand the mold face having a slot for extending the slug cavity forward tothe matrices and other matrices associated with the letter matriceshaving projections on their edges adapted to enter the slot in the maskand produce a low non-printing space on a slug cast in the mold.

3. In a machine of the kind described, a mold in which to cast a slug,standard matrices arranged in front of the mold and spaced therefrom apredetermined distance, a mask for closing the space between thematrices and the face of the mold having a slot for carrying the moldcavity forward to the matrices, other matrices having project-ionsadapted to enter the slot in the mask for producing a low non-printingsurface on the slug cast, said other matrices having projectionsextending towards the mold beneath the mask for entering a guide slotprovided in the face of themold, the standard matrices havingprojections extending beneath the mask and adapted to be positionedthereby. 7

42. In a machine of the kind described, a mold lower than the standardmold, standard matrices positioned their standard position in relationto the mold and having their mold closing edges spaced from the face ofthe mold a distance equal to the reduction in heightyof the mold belowstandard, other matrices associated with the standard matrices andadapted to be clamped in the usual vise and provided with extension toesat their lower ends for en gaging in guide slots in the face of the lowmold, a mask for filling in between the face of the mold and thematrices, the toes on the standard matrices engaging with the lower edgeof the mask as they are brought to casting position in front of the moldslot, said other matrices having projections on their mold closing edgesentering the slot in the mask and whereby the mask is held in positionand low non-printing surfaces are produced on the slug cast.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 11th day ofJanuary, 1921.

ASHTON G. STEVENSON.

